08:30 – I didn’t quite finish the 30 biology kits yesterday. I have 30 shipping boxes arrayed on the work tables downstairs, each box filled with all of the required items, but I haven’t yet gotten the shipping boxes packed and sealed. I’ll finish that today and get started on filling bottles for the new batch of 30 forensics kits. That, and figuring out what we’re short of for a new batch of 60 chemistry kits.
One of the unfortunate realities of the business ramping up is that we end up with more and more working capital sunk in inventory, both finished goods and raw materials. I saw that coming from the first, and I was determined to fund that inventory from working cash flow, which we’ve done. The result, of course, is that we’re not taking much money out of the business. Instead, we end up with $1,000 worth of thermometers in stock, $2,000 worth of bottles, several thousand dollars worth of microscope slides, and on and on. That’s okay, for now. In fact, I’d much rather have funds in the form of hard assets rather than money in the bank. Money loses value constantly, while hard assets appreciate. And, as we begin drawing down inventory levels over the peak summer months, that inventory gets converted to cash.
The other unfortunate reality is that as volumes increase we become less cost-efficient. For example, I just got a partial shipment of some backordered items yesterday. Shipping on that small backorder was about 30% of the item cost. In the past, we would have combined orders and waited until the whole order was ready to ship before having it shipped, thereby saving on shipping costs. Now that we’re doing higher volumes, that’s impractical. One item may be the showstopper that’s holding up assembling a batch of kits, and we have neither the room nor the time to wait. So that item gets shipped by itself, which boosts our overall shipping costs. Still, we’re doing pretty well at keeping things reasonable. We’ve not yet had to resort to anything faster than ground shipping. For example, that order of bottles and caps I placed earlier this week included free ground shipping. If I’d needed expedited shipping, that would have increased our cost by about $1,000.
For example, I just got a partial shipment of some backordered items yesterday. Shipping on that small backorder was about 30% of the item cost. In the past, we would have combined orders and waited until the whole order was ready to ship before having it shipped, thereby saving on shipping costs.
Shipping costs are the bane of small businesses. I have people wanting CD shipments of all releases (monthly or so) sent to them even though our download install is only 80 MB. Some of them actually complain when we do not overnight the CD to them but are not willing to pay for the service.
I have noticed that several USA businesses who outsourced their manufacturing to China are just waking up to the fact that the shipping containers are not cheap and that they can take 2 to 3 months to get here. Reshoring!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/05/01/is-u-s-manufacturing-set-for-a-comeback-or-is-it-all-hype/
Yeah, as I said years ago, the so-called BRICS economic miracle was a flash in the pan, as is becoming obvious now to anyone who cares to look at what’s happening.
I fully expect to be sourcing more and more stuff from US manufacturers as the years pass. Especially glass and plastic products, which are expensive to ship, and which the US now has a huge cost advantage in manufacturing. Assuming, of course, that the environmental nutters don’t kill fracking.
Are computer parts suppliers bringing stuff back on shore to any great extent? I remember you saying several times that it’s integral to Chinese business practices to cut corners but charge full price. I’d be particularly interested to see if Antec is still making cases and power supplies overseas.
Are computer parts suppliers bringing stuff back on shore to any great extent?
Apple is said to be getting ready to open a plant in the US, but I’d expect lots of the parts to be made offshore.
As for container shipping costs, I’ve read that the recession has caused shipping costs to drop dramatically due to overcapacity. There’s a huge fleet of unused container ships off the coast of Singapore, IIRC. I’d expect that seasonal items, like toys and the like, will continue to be made offshore and containered here.
My understanding is that Apple is arranging for one of their suppliers to open a plant in the US. They still won’t be manufacturing the product themselves, it will just be made in the United States.
Here’s a followup on the grampa shot in DFW. Apparently the rookie cop feared for his life and shot gramps 6 times in the chest. I wonder why he didn’t go up and empty the mag in him. You know just to be sure. Maybe the other “rookie” cop stopped him. Now he’s suffering from “emotional distress”. A civilian would be charged with murder.
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/05/29/rookie-police-officer-shot-fort-worth-homeowner-six-times/
Advice: Do not go stumbling around in your front yard or garage with bright lights on you waving your handgun around because you heard noises and saw lights. Call 911 and wait inside and keep them on the line while they take their usual six to twenty minutes to respond. If unidentified entities then come crashing through your doors and windows pointing guns at you then let ’em fly! But don’t go out there and attempt to fight off intruders by yourself.
As for the cop firing six shots, well that is the training and the capacity of the sidearms now; spray and pray. Except they probably don’t pray. No doubt the victim here went down immediately, taking six in the chest, but often they don’t go down right away with the typical calibers and shot placement done now by our heroic law enforcement officers. So they empty their mags at you. Maybe they’ll be issued submachine guns soon with 50-round drums attached. Grenade launchers, so they can blow your shit up from a hundred yards and not put themselves in any jeopardy.
And you’re darn right; if the vic had managed to kill a cop and survived himself, he’d be arrested and charged with homicide and they’d send him to death row. The cop gets weeks or months off, with pay, counseling, and then a return to duty.
As for container shipping costs, I’ve read that the recession has caused shipping costs to drop dramatically due to overcapacity. There’s a huge fleet of unused container ships off the coast of Singapore, IIRC.
You know what costs more than container ships? Diesel. Older diesel engines are 35% efficient. Newer two stroke double compound diesels are 60% efficient. I would venture that all of those parked ships have the older diesels.
Even so, the price of diesel in Asia is approaching $8/gal due to shipping costs, world crude cost (aka Brent crude, 20% higher than Texas Gulf Coast), and demand. Lots of demand if you want to have reliable power to your factory. The power systems in Asia are notoriously unreliable. Especially now that Japan has shut down all of their 55 nuclear power plants and making electricity on coal, LNG, LPG and … diesel.
OK, now I specifically understand why the USA is going broke:
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/72600000-record-number-medicaid-2012-outnumbers-populations-france-and-uk
“A record 72,600,000 were enrolled in Medicaid for at least one month in fiscal 2012, up from 71,700,000 in fiscal 2011”.
It is time to enroll the entire USA population in Medicare and move to a single payer plan for basic and emergency heath care. Every person will need to pay 8 to 10% out of their paychecks plus the employer kicking in an equal percentage.
The big question is, will this cover the 40% of expenditures of Medicaid for little old ladies and men in nursing homes at $4,000 to $8,000 per month? 40% is the number from Texas, I have no idea what other states are.
“It is time to enroll the entire USA population in Medicare and move to a single payer plan for basic and emergency heath care. Every person will need to pay 8 to 10% out of their paychecks plus the employer kicking in an equal percentage.”
Now then; based on our understanding on just how successful gigantic State enterprises have been in our history and currently, you expect the State to take over this particular enterprise and run it successfully? They’ll try, sure, but what a horror this will become, with unlimited opportunities for errors, malfunctions, criminal malfeasance and felonies galore, infinite corruption, and the whole mess coming to a terrible end at some point, with tens of millions left high and dry. As it is, we may be the very last generation in this country to see any kind of return at all from Medicare and/or Social Security, and I would not be the least bit surprised if it all comes crashing down and leaves US high and dry, too. Watch also, how the inevitable bureaucracies spawned from this will arbitrarily decide who gets what and who pays for it. The One Percent and their stooges and lackeys will be OK; the main population will be put on triage and purged accordingly.
Hey Miles_Teg down in Oz: not so fast on the retirement thing, buddy! Somebody close to your haht down there needs a bodyguard ASAP:
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/second-sandwich-hurled-at-pm-20130530-2ndi4.html
Watch also, how the inevitable bureaucracies spawned from this will arbitrarily decide who gets what and who pays for it.
Sarah Palin’s death panels are alive and well already. You just do not see them in action very often as they are well hidden. Mostly they are Doctors and hospital administrators now.
The One Percent and their stooges and lackeys will be OK; the main population will be put on triage and purged accordingly.
But is that not happening already? We are doing this already in Texas for the bottom 10% but that number is starting to move up as “public” hospitals will not allow people to move from the E-R to the hospital. In fact, many of our E-Rs are closing and being replaced with “urgent care” where you must prove ability to pay before treatment.
They’ll try, sure, but what a horror this will become, with unlimited opportunities for errors, malfunctions, criminal malfeasance and felonies galore, infinite corruption, and the whole mess coming to a terrible end at some point, with tens of millions left high and dry.
I am guessing that this is one of the things that you are talking about:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/05/30/obamacares-slush-fund-fuels-a-broader-lobbying-controversy/
“A little-noticed part of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act channels some $12.5 billion into a vaguely defined “Prevention and Public Health Fund” over the next decade–and some of that money is going for everything from massage therapists who offer “calming techniques,” to groups advocating higher state and local taxes on tobacco and soda, and stricter zoning restrictions on fast-food restaurants.”
O what a brave new world!
Should be lotsa fun; just don’t get sick or hurt or old and feeble.
Also don’t piss off the wrong low-level bureaucrat.
Also don’t piss off the wrong low-level bureaucrat.
Like the nice IRS Lady who took the 5th?
http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/05/22/irs-official-takes-the-5th-i-have-not-done-anything-wrong/
I can see her with a clipboard walking around, looking at the patients and checking yes or no. She is better than you and me and knows it. After all, she got a nice big bonus last year.
When she is walking around with the clipboard and stopwatch and riding crop, she should be wearing highly polished jackboots and a svelte black leather uniform with a colorful armband in three colors and we know which ones, don’t we. If she is speaking in German we have several possible translators right here on this board.
Also, it just gets me so hot when I see middle-aged harridans and hags eyeballing the camera over the tops of their spectacles….WTF is up wid dat, anyway? And now I see metrosexual middle-aged men doing it, too.
So, Lynn, looks like just you and me today so fah; the two religious nutters, and everyone else is probably having fun somewhere.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve been busy lately, mostly in keeping a roof over our heads. That’s not entirely metaphorical; a tornado passed through last night. No damage to our house but one of our young trees was blown down. Son#1 and I righted it and braced it and reburied what should have stayed underground; maybe it’ll live. Also, of course Daughter and I were away from home when the wind came through, and it was like driving a maze to get home past the downed branches, trees, live wires, telephone poles, and puddles of unknown depth at low spots in the road. Icing on the cake, the elderly (80? 85?) mother of one of my wife’s friends was home alone (her daughter and son-in-law were on vacation or business trip) when their power went out. So… back in the car, drive a maze to pick her up, drive a maze to bring her to an old folks’ apartment complex which had power, and drive a maze to get home. The good news was, by that last drive I was familiar enough with the blocked streets that it was no problem getting home.
Today was consumed with day job, yard cleanup, moonlighting, feeding myself (a high-priority task!), helping Kid#1 find a place to live during his summer internship, sitting in the car while Kid#1 practices parallel parking, and browbeating Kid#3 into practicing piano properly rather than goofing around. So you’ll excuse me, I’m sure, if my commenting has been light of late.
We are doing this already in Texas for the bottom 10% but that number is starting to move up as “public” hospitals will not allow people to move from the E-R to the hospital.
This is why “non-profit hospital” is not a cure-all. When the Memorial System bought Hermann, they got the courts to agree to bust the charter of Hermann, which specified that they were supposed to provide charity care for the poor of Harris county. It’s now one of the most cut-throat competitors in the hospital arena, does little charity work, and pays the executives huge salaries.
Fortunately, we still have the Harris County hospitals, Methodist, and St. Luke’s which do charity work. In fact, a friend of my daughter got a new aorta free of charge from St. Luke’s a while back.
Let me get this straight: there is Kid One and Kid Three and Son One and evidently one Daughter. Kid Two? Good thing there is computer literacy under that roof; one needs a database to keep track of everything; I thought it was bad up HERE! Also fortunate to negotiate the road maze several times with no damage or injury.
Mrs. OFD is in Hutchinson, KS, this week, as luck would have it, and a tornado passed to her northeast there yesterday and then last night, all night, horrific t-storms, and tornado warning in effect through tomorrow night. She and her colleague are doing their training in a hospital basement this week. And I saw on our local radio station’s website on SpaceBook that there were tornado and heavy t-storm warnings for the Capitol Region of Albany in the Vampire State over into southern VT and northwestern Taxachusetts.
And here I thought SteveF was just goofing off down there.
Meanwhile Miles_Teg must have taken my exhortation to haht and gone off to secure the person of their lovely PM down there in Oz from any more salami sammich attacks.
Back in the dark ages when I worked on an earlier generation fighter, it was pretty obvious that it was a plane in search of a mission. It was designed for air-superiority, but we weren’t fighting anyone with an air force. To keep the money flowing, it was modified to be a tactical bomber – probably the world’s most short-ranged bomber. Oh, but you could solve that by strapping on extra fuel tanks. Meanwhile, the cheap, reliable Warthog – well, we all know that it didn’t cost enough, didn’t grease the right political wheels and anyway, who wants a plane that can only fly in a support role?
The F-35 is just a repeat of this whole sordid story. Every part or piece of equipment sub-sub-subcontracted to a different Congressional district, all of the subcontractors mewlingly (and financially) grateful to their Congresscritters for getting them the contract, and the whole show must be extended over decades to give everyone enough time to rake in the dough. Meanwhile, the result is a multipurpose plane that does nothing well, and costs dozens of times what it really ought to.
Along which lines: I still haven’t received confirmation of my expatriation. I wonder if my past military connection is holding things up? If I were paranoid, I might suppose that this very message will pop up in someone’s search… If so, “hi”, and just approve the damn thing already 🙂
The discussions of IRS, police shootings, and other governmental messes reminds me of an article I read some time ago, somewhere on the Internet. No idea where, now unfindable. The point of the article: Modern government gives bureaucrats authority without responsibility. When they screw up, they suffer no personal consequences whatsoever.
The bad bureaucrats turn into little tin gods. Even the good ones become careless with their authority, simply because they have no reason to be careful. As OFD pointed out: If any of us had shot grampa, we’d be charged with murder. A cop does it, and it’s all about how sorry the cop is, and he’s suffering emotional distress. Sorry, the guy should be treated the same as anyone else; he should carry the responsibility for his mistake.
The same for the IRS woman, the TSA goons, Pournelle’s bunny inspectors, and all the rest: If they screw up in some spectacular way, they should – must – experience direct, personal consequences. Of course, it won’t happen.
ech wrote:
“Fortunately, we still have the Harris County hospitals, Methodist, and St. Luke’s which do charity work. In fact, a friend of my daughter got a new aorta free of charge from St. Luke’s a while back.”
What? I thought they’d take the life savings of everyone in a neighborhood to do that in the US.
OFD wrote:
“Hey Miles_Teg down in Oz: not so fast on the retirement thing, buddy! Somebody close to your haht down there needs a bodyguard ASAP:
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/second-sandwich-hurled-at-pm-20130530-2ndi4.html”
I regret not pursuing her in 1980, when I was a member of the Adelaide University Liberal Club and she was a member of the Labor Club. I thought she was cute then, especially by the standard of the average left wing feminist, and I might have saved her from transitioning from Baptist to atheist. And 30 years later I might have become the First Bloke of Australia.
I really like her a lot despite our vastly different politics.
“So, Lynn, looks like just you and me today so fah; the two religious nutters, and everyone else is probably having fun somewhere.”
I’ve been busy organising the house for sale. The agent visited today, and I have a list of things to do with that. Haircut on Saturday, quarterly communion (that’s Mass without the idolatry, Dave) on Sunday, financial adviser on Monday…
If someone had told me that retirement was so hectic I wouldn’t have retired.
Lynn wrote:
“Like the nice IRS Lady who took the 5th?”
I’ve never completely understood taking the fifth. If she’s done something bad and talking would expose her crime, sure. But if she’s done nothing wrong how can she refuse to incriminate herself?
Brad wrote:
“To keep the money flowing, it was modified to be a tactical bomber – probably the world’s most short-ranged bomber.”
Were you working for the Soviets? The Backfire is the only short ranged bomber I know of.
“The point of the article: Modern government gives bureaucrats authority without responsibility. When they screw up, they suffer no personal consequences whatsoever.”
That also goes for the corporate world. Whether you do well or screw up, you get a golden parachute.
There OFD! Are you happy now? No, I hadn’t been kidnapped by the lovely Julia to be her sex slave. More’s the pity… 🙂
Miles – you’d be an idiot to NOT take the Fifth when in front of a (n openly adversarial) Congressional committee. Doesn’t matter what you say, they’ll twist it around and find a way to nail you for it. The only time it’s safe to testify in front of Congress is if you’re uninvolved, or a strong backer of (read: “contributor to”) an overwhelming majority of the panel. As an illustration of what can happen when someone in a position of power is determined to get you, remember Martha Stewart?
I’ve never completely understood taking the fifth.
Anytime you are being questioned by any authority about something in which you were involved, especially federal authorities, the best single piece of advice is to give your name and then cease to participate in any further conversation. Silence is your ally.
The only time it’s safe to testify in front of Congress is if you’re uninvolved, or a strong backer of (read: “contributor to”) an overwhelming majority of the panel.
I would take that further and specify there is no safe time to testify in front of congress. Most of them are idiots without a clue and are just looking for another 15 minutes of fame.
A second piece of advice when being questioned by authorities is to bring along your own recording device. They are, after all, going to record the conversation and only the parts that benefit them will survive. This is especially true when dealing with the IRS agents in the local office. A recording does wonders when an agent gives bad information causing one to be assessed penalties.
Ironically, it appears she can’t take the 5th Amendment because she made a statement before invoking her 5th Amendment Rights.
There’s a Youtube video out there made by a law professor who said not to talk to the police without a lawyer present. Out of a sense of fairness he invited a police officer to have equal time. The police officer said the same thing.
Ask Martha Stewart about talking to the authorities. If you never open your mouth, your words cannot be taken out of context and used against you.
Finally, everyone in the United States but me unknowingly commits three felonies a day. See the book by Harvey Silverglate.
Three a day? Can I choose which ones? 🙂
If you like maps and geography, then check out http://geoguessr.com/.
A game where you search the world in Google Maps Street View for visual clues to your whereabouts, them pinpoint your location on the map for points. The closer you are, the higher the points.
Warning, this could eat your day.
Nope. They’re mostly boring things like “It is a violation of Federal Law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling.” Unless of course you graduate from medical school, when it becomes a violation of federal law to prescribe too much pain medication to people in pain.
I’ve been hanging out here too long. This socially conservative Republican is starting to sound like a certain Libertarian.
“I’ve been hanging out here too long. This socially conservative Republican is starting to sound like a certain Libertarian.”
Run Forrest, RUN!
BTW, thanks for the WoW advice from a few weeks ago. My highest is now 48. I needed a small amount of wool cloth to get to the next First Aid stage but it took forever to get it. I had so much silk cloth and mageweave stored at the Bank that when I did get the Wool I also learned silk, heavy silk and mageweave all in one hit. This toon is also moving along with mining and crafting armor, but I haven’t yet mined thorium anywhere so I’m kinda stuck. Nothing else will get me higher.
Our guild has cloth in the guild bank for things like your wool problem. Or you can always buy a stack of wool cloth from the auction house. Selling a stack of linen or silk in the AH as appropriate can provide the funds for that. I was going to say check Un’goro Crater for thorium, but place I googled leads me to believe Winterspring is the first place for you to check, but that is a level 50 and up zone. Also, you can mine and sell lower level ore in the AH and buy thorium ore with the money.
While on the subject of World of Warcraft, I should mention that Brad’s talk of soloing dungeons with his warrior has led me to consider trying something similar to level my Paladin. So far I’ve only soloed the Stockade at level 30, but I’m thinking of trying some other dungeons.
On my level 48 Beast Mastery Hunter I soloed a dungeon containing a Level 20 (or so) named critter (?boss). Only *just* managed it without being killed.
I never know what prices to bid or set at the AH so I don’t use it. I just sell stuff to innkeepers.
I didn’t know Brad was in WoW.
I died a few times on my first try as a level 30 in a dungeon with level 25 bosses. I was using a Paladin set up for tanking. I wound up healing myself to keep from dying.
There is a wow add on called Auctioneer that will give you a good idea about prices. You can find it at curse.com along with a bunch of other WOW add ons. I use the free version of the curse client to keep all my add ons up to date. There are other add ons there that are widely used. My wife swears by Healbot for her Holy (healing) Paladin, and everyone I know who runs dungeons uses Omen and Deadly Boss Mods.
I think he tried it for a while and quit.
In fact, a friend of my daughter got a new aorta free of charge from St. Luke’s a while back.
And that is why St. Lukes is going broke and just sold itself to Catholic Health Initiatives. Hopefully, Catholic Health Initiatives will do a better job of fund raising for charity work and then bill the heck out of the rest of us with insurance.
Were you working for the Soviets? The Backfire is the only short ranged bomber I know of.
The morons at the Air Force have made the F-16, one of the best jet fighters ever built, into a short ranged bomber. Actually, the Israelis have bought it for that purpose also.
“quarterly communion (that’s Mass without the idolatry, Dave)”
Ho, ho. Is that with the grape juice and crackers?
Reminds me of the Jack Chick comic series where he describes the Roman Catholic “death cookie.”
Ironically, it appears she can’t take the 5th Amendment because she made a statement before invoking her 5th Amendment Rights.
Any person in the USA can take the 5th at any time. They may be charged for taking the fifth with Obstruction of Justice but I doubt it. I would take the fifth on any authority asking me questions nowadays. I severely regret my cooperation with the FBI and the CIA in the 1990s and 2000s. I should have told them to get a warrant like I made the FTC do in 2004.
The “Authorities” are not to be trusted whatsoever and you can presume that they will lie to you routinely and often and will attempt to entrap you. This means from the lowest level deputy sheriff or rookie cop on up to U.S. Senators sitting in Mordor. Tell them nothing without an attorney at your side and don’t trust the attorney, either. For various reasons they don’t go after the very worst criminals and terrorists and bad people in our society so they make do with the rest of us and justify their positions and salaries thusly.
Watch for them to really ramp up our very own Stasi network of informers, too; it’s well on the way.
OFD wrote:
“Reminds me of the Jack Chick comic series…”
Ah yes, I once had a sizable collection of them. Were you fan too? (smirk)
I was a fan and still get a kick out of them sometimes. The Death Cookie was a highlight; also his depictions of the hordes of non-fundie-Protestant souls being cast into the Lake of Fire.
The best of the series by far was “This Was Your Life”. One of the more forgettable ones was “Big Daddy?”, an anti-evolution comic. I’m sure our host would have been amused/enraged by “The Gay Blade”, an anti-homosexual one. And at 5 cents each it wasn’t expensive to collect the lot.
I remember the “This Was Your Life” one but not the others; we used to get them free of charge, in piles, from handouts by local loonies and nutters.